“This is the Voice of Vietnam broadcasting from Hanoi, the Capital of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam”. That announcement was broadcast at 11.30 hrs on September 7, 1945, a historical moment that announced the birth of Radio the Voice of Vietnam.
66 years have passed, yet that moment signaled a future of strong development for the Vietnamese revolutionary movement.
The Head Office of the VOV is at 58 Quan Su Street. It has become a popular address for Vietnamese and foreign listeners far and near ever since then.
Over the past 66 years of development, VOV’s physical infrastructure has constantly been upgraded. The office is now housed in a modern multi-storey building – one of the several pioneer projects to mark the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi (October 10, 2010).
In the course of its development, many generations of VOV staff have worked tirelessly to ensure the radio retained a high profile in national construction and defence.
During the war of resistance against the French, VOV was one of the communication tools used to disseminate the Party and Government’s guidelines and instructions as well as orders from the High Command of the Vietnam People’s Armed Forces. A crucial contributor to the victories in the nine years of fighting against the French colonialists was the Voice of Vietnam.
In the American war to defend the homeland, VOV maintained its role as a reliable source of information for people nation-wide, particular those who lived in South Vietnam. We’re very proud to say that the activities carried out by the radio station equaled that of a mighty army corps as it heroically entered the fight against the enemy and contributed to many resounding victories.
During the American war, it was a great honour for the station to be assigned to so many important attacks, by giving secret orders to the liberation army to attack the enemy as well as in agitation work to weaken the enemy’s moral.
During that time one of the key objectives of the station was to carry out propaganda work on revolutionary heroism, boosting the moral of the liberation fighters while exposing the unjust war waged by the US aggressors and their Saigon puppets and gathering support from peace lovers around the world.
In addition, many of its staff were sent to battle fronts to cover the news, including the Road No.9 campaign in 1971, the battle for Quang Tri in the summer of 1972 and the Ho Chi Minh Campaign in 1975.
13 journalists and technicians laid down their lives on the battle fields and were awarded the title “War Martyrs”.
During the war years, the VOV created a strong network in all the revolutionary bases around the country, including Cao Bang, Tan Trao, Bac Kan, Lang Son, the norther western region, Viet Bac region, Central Vietnam, the Central Highlands, the South Western region, Lao Cai, Hoa Binh and Tram Mount.
For safety reasons, the station had to move its head office 14 times during the war.